If the U.S. Congress passes any energy legislation in the few days that remain this session, it likely will be a law setting a national, mandatory, one call notification system for locating underground utilities.
House and Senate committees plan hearings on the bill this month.
Pipelines especially want the legislation passed. Line ruptures may not be more common these days, but with increasing urbanization they have the potential to be more catastrophic.
FEDERAL PROGRAM
After a Texas Eastern Gas Pipeline Co. line ruptured Mar. 23 in Edison, N.J., Transportation Sec. Federico Pena called a national pipeline safety summit to explore ways to revise the federal pipeline safety program.
Fairfax Va., officials testified their city has suffered three major pipeline spills in 14 years. They said unlike gas lines, hazardous liquid design codes do not require design of pipelines to take population density or environmentally sensitive areas into consideration.
They also said federal rules should take into consideration the possibility of pressure induced cyclic fatigue.
Fredericksburg, Va., officials said Colonial Pipeline Co. ruptures in 1980 and 1989 contaminated their city's water supplies. They urged DOT to "enhance the rights of pipeline accident victims before the Office of Pipeline Safety and in the courts."
Colonial Pres. D.R. Brinkley said in the last 10 years on the Colonial system, third parties have caused 80% of leaks totaling 50 bbl or more.
He called for stiff civil penalties for excavators who violate one call laws and said all contractors working on pipeline easements should be required to prove their financial responsibility to pay for accidents they cause.
Joseph Caldwell, an Arlington, Va., pipeline safety consultant, said one of the problems with the current DOT approach is congressional micromanagement of the safety agenda and the influence of local political factions reacting to isolated pipeline incidents.
James Smith, Northwest Pipeline Corp.'s safety manager, noted a number of pipeline safety rules are being developed. "These include smart pigs, auto and remote valves, maps and records, and operator qualification. All of the initiatives must be placed in some type of order.
"Indeed, the entire pipeline safety program of rulemaking, research, pipe integrity, and risk assessment must be carefully analyzed before clogging it with additional pipeline safety legislation."
SMART PIGS
Pipelines also cautioned that increased use of smart pigs to detect problems is not a panacea.
Columbia Gas Transmission said, "Current regulations place too much reliance on smart pigs. They are designed primarily to evaluate corrosion and may not reliably detect other critical defects."
The American Gas Association said a 1992 DOT study estimated that modifying all gas transmission lines to allow use of smart pigs could cost more than $4 billion.
"Neither remote or automatic valves nor smart pigs have the potential to significantly improve upon the already outstanding safety record of natural gas pipelines," AGA said. "Only actions to prevent third party damage have potential for significant improvement to pipeline safety."
Copyright 1994 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
